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Science

It is time to make one more effort to ‘clean up’ this site and get the basics once more behind us. We get into a lot of trouble in using the word ‘science’. There’s a need to establish a definition in order to exclude the burden of so many arbitrary, unsupportable declarations. We want to be able to say; “Stop bothering us with your meaningless ‘ad hoc’ statements. Please go to one of the myriad of other sites that don’t ask that you maintain some scientific rigor.”

In Latin scientia means knowledge, and can generally be described as a systematic procedure for building and organizing knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses. It is frequently generalized to refer to a “body of reliable knowledge”.

From the beginning, there has been a conflict with bodies of “knowledge” arrived at by other means. “Might” is a source (as in ‘might makes right’); divine inspiration is another (what is the definition of ‘divine’?); ulterior motivated (“knowledge” is what makes me richer, or more powerful”); and other sources.

Let’s restrict “scientific knowledge” to the testable hypothesis definition, and then describe the “body of reliable science” as hypotheses that have been tested, and thereby observed to be true. And remember that there is always the caveat that a ‘reliable’ test that is failed puts in question the hypothesis, and a new one is needed. Thus progress in building a body of knowledge proceeds.

The next hurdle is describing the systematic procedure for organizing the body of knowledge. Here we encounter another word, mathematics, that defies an easy definition. Sometimes used interchangeably with science, it has spawned an esoteric self-contained branch called “pure mathematics” (as if anything so messy can be pure). Anyway, we’ll stick with the original tie to observational science (call it “applied mathematics”). It is an artifact (“work of art”) for organizing observations. It then lends itself to the exciting capability of prediction.

The simplest version is found in the simultaneous measurement of two different parameters at different values, plotting the results, and fitting a line or curve to the results. If the simplest example is a straight-line fit (e.g. between size and weight of rocks) then the line can be extended beyond measurement to predict (the weight of a rock too huge to lift). When either a hollow rock is found, or measurements get more accurate, the line misses some points …. on to new hypotheses, more knowledge. An example of a rather complicated periodic observation is that of the tides. They have been noted for millennium, their periods and size measured and projected into the future. All this was before any physical reasons for them were known. The inventions of counting, algebra, geometry, calculus and other new exotic procedures have greatly facilitated this procedure (curve fitting) and made it very powerful.

With these rules, we can eliminate the chaff from this column and concentrate on the facts. Of course a real understanding of science probably requires years of university education (or the equivalent), and the only way to establish this knowledge is with degrees (or equivalents). But this has been done in all the professional scientific societies, where much scientific discourse takes place without the chaff (not totally though). Now, the internet offers an opportunity to broaden the community. We’re giving it a look. I know that the modis operandi here is just to ignore the irrelevant, but a professor (and probably a scientist) has a knee-jerk reaction to explain everything.

Sorry for the pedantics, but I’m getting bored with the chaff, the clichés, and the anti-science; want to say; “Been there, done that”.

Note: This is a seattlepi.com reader blog. It is not written or edited by the P-I. The authors are solely responsible for content. E-mail us at newmedia@seattlepi.com if you consider a post inappropriate..